You know you should have thought of this before. But when all the keen students were making trips to the careers service and collecting CV points like tokens off a cereal packet, where were you? In the pub. And now you're staring at the blank sheet of paper that is your CV, cursing the years you've wasted – and wondering what you're going to write.

If that's you, don't worry. Many people feel uninspired when they come to write a CV, but the truth is, you've done much more than you think. Follow these tips to discover your hidden talents:

1. Brainstorm

Don't set out to write a CV. Just write down everything you've done that you're proud of, however small it seems, in no particular order; it's the best way to beat the block of the empty page. Only when you've been brainstorming for a half-hour should you organise the info into categories like achievements, work experience, education and extra-curricular activities.

2. Get help

Once you've got that first draft, enlist help – from both someone who knows you, and someone whose job is to ask you questions. "Most of us can identify somebody who is pretty close to us who knows who we are, what we've done, what we can offer," says Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters.

"Show someone who you're prepared to take some feedback from: 'Look, this is me, I'm applying for this job, have I done myself justice?' Someone else reading through it can sometimes see the gaps." After that, see an expert such as a careers adviser, and let them tease information out of you. "I've talked to a lot of graduates," says Carl, "who say, 'Oh, I've left it late, I've spent the past three years in the pub.' But when you get down to grilling them, you find they did do some things."

3. Target your CV

Bulking out a CV isn't about filling it with meaningless adjectives. It's about demonstrating how every piece of experience is relevant to each employer. That means making a big deal of your work experience, no matter how trivial it may seem. "Working in the restaurant trade or in Tesco isn't what you want to be doing as a graduate – but what you need to get out of that are the skills like communication, negotiation and organisation," says CV writer Paul Bradley of Bradley CVs.

Finding ways to make even a non-vocational course relevant can help differentiate you. Don't include a list of course titles; do mention that presentation you did as part of your practical coursework. And don't forget those extra interests. "You could be the chairperson on a committee," says Paul. "It's important to get your skills out of that: perhaps you organised meetings, perhaps you organised a speaker. Also sporting achievements: it's important that you demonstrate leadership and teamworking."

4. Cut out the waffle

What's waffle? Anything that isn't of relevance to an employer. Identify it and strike it out.

5. Focus on your strengths

Still think your CV is too short? Concentrate on the aspects of yourself that you are most proud of. It could be your most valuable achievements, or it could be a concise description of you, that goes at the top of the CV. Either way, it has to be positive. "It's almost a part of life as a 20-year-old to be self-deprecating," says Carl Gilleard, "and it ain't any use to you when you're competing for jobs against a host of other candidates."

6. Remember – it's never too late

If you still see gaps, don't despair: fill them. So if you want to be a journalist, write an article for the student newspaper. If you've got a couple of hours to spare, help out with a local charity. Or if you're still staring at white A4, why not plan a year off – and use it to do something you've always wanted to do?

"If you graduate and don't go straight into the serious careers job market, but you take some time out either to pay off your debts or to travel, or to do some kind of voluntary experience, that can be valuable," says Carl Gilleard.

Look on it as a fresh start: in a year's time filling a CV will never have seemed so easy.